The slums were common in most cities in this world. Apart from being dirty and messy, they were also the hotbeds of evil and the darkest corners of the city.
Murder, robbery, and smuggling were common occurrences here. Even the churches in the city rarely came here. People died here almost every day. Even the priests of the Dawnlight Shrine, who were known for their kindness and kindness, did not care about the lives of these people.
However, things began to change with the arrival of the new king. The most obvious change was that many of the slums were hired to work. Although the work was hard, they could eat their fill and even get a salary. This gave many people hope to survive.
Who would want to die if they could live? In an instant, these slum people burst out with a strong work enthusiasm and were grateful to Su Lun, the king who brought them hope. However, the changes in the slums also made some people think differently.
.....
"Boss, I've asked around. Those bumpkins earn about ten copper Nars a day. The women get eight, and even the children get five," a skinny, wretched-looking man with a moustache said excitedly.
"I've done some calculations. There are more than two hundred people in our gang's territory. If they are all adults, they can earn two thousand copper Nars a day, which is equivalent to two Kinnar. That's sixty Kinnar a month. That's not a small amount. "
A fierce-looking man with a scar on his face said with a hint of greed in his eyes, "Looks like our king is really rich."
The scar-faced man took out a small knife and played with it. He then said, "Mouse, pass down the order. Everyone who goes to work must pay eighty percent of the safety fee when they return. I'll leave this to you. If anyone dares to hide it and refuse to pay, break one of their hands! "
"Don't worry, I'll do it properly. I won't miss a single copper Nar." The wretched-looking man with a moustache patted his chest and promised.
.....
After the health regulations were issued, San Filto City changed at a speed visible to the naked eye. The impact of the war had gradually faded, and the city became more prosperous than before.
"Knock knock knock!" A series of knocks sounded.
"Come in," Suhlen said without raising his head.
Suhlen couldn't help but sniff at the fragrance. He looked up and said in surprise, "Phyllis, why are you here?"
"I'm here to see you." Phyllis, who was wearing a court lady's dress, said with a lunchbox in her hand.
"You'll be living here for the next two days. Although the country's affairs are important, you should also pay attention to your rest. This is the meat soup that I asked someone to prepare for you. Try it first. "
"Alright!" Smelling the tempting aroma, Suhlen also felt his stomach turning. He picked up the broth and started to gulp it down.
Phyllis chuckled and wiped the rice off the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief. "Don't drink so fast. No one's fighting with you. If it's not enough, there's more here."
"That's enough." Suhlen patted his belly and put down the bowl.
"What have you been up to these days?" Phyllis asked as she put away the tableware.
Suhlen picked up the documents on the table and said, "Busy making laws."
"Making laws? Are there any problems with the old laws? "Phyllis looked at Suhlen in confusion.
"Big problems." Suhlen curled his lips and said, "The laws are too simple and crude. The punishment for crimes is also very low. Most of the time, it's impossible to uphold justice by following the laws."
"In addition to these, these laws are also very vague about taxation. For nobles and wealthy merchants, taxes are reduced or directly exempted. For commoners, there are more than a hundred types of taxes, such as head tax, toll tax, goods tax, land tax, housing tax, city gate tax, salt tax, and so on."
"If the taxes are collected strictly according to the laws, it's not so bad. But I've checked the tax records over the years. The taxes are getting lower and lower year after year. It's obvious that the officials are colluding to embezzle the taxes."
"I've also asked someone to investigate the specific tax situation. It turns out that the tax collected by the state is one silver Nar, while the tax officials directly collect one and a half or even two silver Nars. The taxes of civilians are increasing year after year, but the state's taxes are falling. "
"In the end, the state doesn't collect enough taxes, but the civilians pay more. The state loses money, and so do the civilians. Only the nobles and the officials get rich." Suhlen sneered and threw the documents on the table.
Hearing Suhlen's words, Phyllis was a bit anxious, "Then what should we do? Should we just arrest the tax officials and the nobles and force them to hand over the taxes? "
"That can solve the problem, but it won't do much for the people at the bottom. If we arrest these people and replace them with others, the result will probably be the same as before," Suhlen continued.
"The better way is to improve the laws and strengthen the supervision of the officials and nobles."
"Then let's do as you say. I support you." Phyllis walked to Suhlen and hugged him.
Suhlen gently stroked Phyllis's hair, "Don't worry. It will be better."
Compared to North Wind Principality, the Kingdom of Florence had existed for hundreds of years. Although it had a larger population and a larger territory, it was much worse than North Wind Principality in all aspects. In terms of taxes, in North Town, no one dared to violate the rules set by Suhlen, and no one dared to embezzle.
There were many successful experiences in North Town, and the key ones were the prison built by Suhlen and the twice-yearly ideological and ideological education. Officials at all levels had to go to the prison for ideological education every six months. Plus, there were all kinds of rules and supervisors in North Town. Basically, no one dared to cross the line. Even if someone wanted to do so, they would be caught very soon.
Suhlen gave officials the right to report. There was an office in the city hall that received reports, and they needed to report with their real names. Even normal civilians could report officials to the city hall. Of course, if the report was verified, the person who reported it would be rewarded, but if it was false, the person who reported it would also be severely punished.
This kind of reporting was originally used to restrict officials. Suhlen didn't want it to become a tool for someone to take revenge. This system had been running in North Town for more than a year, and it seemed to be working well.
There was a prison in San Filto City, but it didn't have all kinds of bonuses like the prison in North Town. Therefore, if Suhlen wanted to follow North Town's rules, he would have to build a new prison. Since he had decided to do it, the sooner, the better. After Suhlen marked out the location of the prison, he asked people to build it according to the blueprint he gave.
The workers were still recruited from the slums. The slums had a lot of manpower, and they were cheap. Ever since Suhlen and Phyllis ascended to the throne, San Filto City had been constantly building. All kinds of construction projects provided a lot of jobs in San Filto City.
With a job, there would naturally be income. With income, there would be consumption. This would promote the city's commerce, and the materials needed for various projects would be purchased from the market. Business activities would become more frequent, and the entire city would become prosperous. San Filto City was now more prosperous than it was before the war.
Seeing such a prosperous scene, no one would have thought that this city had just gone through a war half a month ago.
In order to better control San Felto City, Suren also contacted Hathaway through the communication magic array and asked her to transfer a group of grass-roots officials from Beifeng Dukedom to San Felto City, as well as a group of tamed falcons from Beifeng City.
The officer training school in North Town City had never stopped. In the past, due to the lack of manpower, the first few batches of training lasted one month. Now, it had been extended to six months, and the number of people in each batch had increased to one hundred. The most recent batch of officials was about to finish their training, and they were all sent to San Filto City.
Magic communication was expensive, so Suhlen planned to build an eagle nest in San Filto City and use falcons to communicate. At the same time, to strengthen the connection with North Town City, Suhlen planned to build a teleportation circle. Of course, this teleportation circle could only be used for emergency communication.
The teleportation circle cost a lot to build, and it required a lot of mana. The teleportation circle in North Town City was powered by the elemental pool, but even so, it couldn't be used frequently. San Filto City was thousands of miles away from North Town City, so the energy consumption was even higher. He also needed to build an elemental pool.
.....
Footsteps came from the corridor, and then there was a hurried knock on the door.
"Come in!" The door was pushed open, and a servant came in hurriedly.
"Your Majesty, our workers in charge of the construction work were killed."
Suhlen suddenly looked up. "What did you say?"
The servant quickly said, "A few workers we sent to build the infrastructure of the city were killed. Their bodies were decapitated and dumped near the city gate!"
"Who did it?!" Suhlen's voice was like the cold wind from the icy plains, freezing people.
The servant gulped. "We suspect that it was done by the gangs in the slums!"
"Gangs? How dare they kill my people? "Suhlen's face was cold, and his eyes were filled with anger.
"I heard that it was because of the workers' salaries."
"Those workers didn't pay their salaries?" Suhlen's face turned even uglier.
"No, that's not it. The workers' salaries weren't delayed. It was those gangsters who wanted to forcibly take away the workers' salaries. As a result, our staff went to reason with them."
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